Mike Elko: Noah Thomas has 'all the makings' of a top wide receiver

Texas A&M wide receiver Noah Thomas wowed throughout the spring with his impressive play, which did not go unnoticed. Aggies first-year head coach Mike Elko likes what he’s seeing out of his young talented receiver thus far. But is it worthy of being wide receiver No. 1 for Texas A&M?

During a recent press conference following the Aggies’ Maroon and White spring game, Elko addressed the possibility of Thomas being the guy for them in 2024. The Aggies headman also revealed what he needs to see out of his stud wideout to make that possibility into a reality.

“Yeah. I think he has tremendous size [and] a very large catch radius,” said Elko when asked if Thomas could be the top receiver at Texas A&M. “I think he’s gotten healthy; he had some offseason stuff that he was dealing with towards the end of the year last year. He’s getting healthier. He got healthier as spring went on. I think it’s going to be really important for him to have a really strong summer. If he can develop some strength and get his body where it could possibly be; yeah, I think he has all the makings of being a guy that we can use as a top target.”

Thomas finished the Aggies’ 2023 campaign with 29 catches for 359 yards and five receiving touchdowns. Arguably, his best game of the season was the Aggies’ season opener against the University of New Mexico. There, he put together a six-catch, 74-yard reception that was accompanied by three of his five touchdowns. Under Elko in 2024, Thomas is looking to build off last year’s performance and quite possibly have a breakout season for the Aggies.

Elko believes Texas A&M has its best defensive end combo ‘in a long time’

Texas A&M has had a number of great defensive ends over the years, but Elko believes the Aggies could have their best duo in recent memory this upcoming season.

Elko would know. He spent four years as the A&M defensive coordinator under Jimbo Fisher and helped the Aggies rank No. 2 in the country in rushing defense in 2020. He is now set to take over the program after spending the past two years as the head coach at Duke.

Following the spring game, Elko made quite the declaration on the combo of returning contributor Shemar Stewart and Purdue transfer Nic Scourton. But it wasn’t just them he was excited about.

“When we line up Nic Scourton on one side and Shemar Stewart on the other, I think we have the best defensive end combo that we’ve had here in a long time,” he said. “Then you start talking about some of the other pieces and what Cashius Howell brings to the table, what Rylan Kennedy brings to the table and what Malick Sylla will bring to the table. You have a lot of talent at that position right now.”

A&M is coming off of a 7-6 finish this past season and ranked as the No. 1 rushing defense in the SEC with just 108.8 ground yards allowed per game. They were also tied for fourth in the country with 3.4 sacks per game.